CAN GERMANY WIN IT?Germany looked frightening up top today, but a lot of that is as much due to England's defending as it is to the threat of this attack, but they will worry most other teams in the competition on the break. Joachim Loew's side were solid in the centre of the park, but look really suspect in defence and should be badly exposed by any team capable of reaching the last-eight of the World Cup. Can they win it? Yes. Are they good enough to win it? No, probably not.

93'

CLASSY VERSUS CALAMITYGermany were clinical, but this result is all about England and their abject failure at both ends. All four goals were gifted to their opponents, with Terry and Upson woefully exposed for lack of pace, and the decision to not recall King should be up for debate. Barry was nowhere to be seen in the holding midfield role that he was supposed to fill, while Gerrard, Rooney and Milner failed to produce any sort of quality in the final third, leaving Defoe isolated. The only players who performed for England were James, Cole and the impressive Lampard - who was the only man who looked to worry Germany and get a hold of possession in the centre of the park. He should have scored when his goal was wrongly not given, and hit the bar with a stunning free-kick after the break. However, England have been poor for most of the tournament, with Capello's decisions called into question and the performances of the big players well below the standard needed at this level.

92'

IT'S ALL OVERThe final whistle goes and Germany march on into the quarter-finals. It's fully deserved on this performance, but they will surely face tougher opposition in the latter stages.

90'

STOPPAGE TIMEThere are two minutes left for Germany to celebrate and England to suffer.

88'

ANOTHER GOOD EFFORTFrank Lampard - probably the only England player who has stood up to be counted this afternoon - has another pop from distance, but is denied by Neuer... unlike his previous two attempts.

86'

ENGLAND CHANGEWright-Phillips replaces the injured Johnson, but there is little impact the winger can make now.

85'

GOING OUT WITH A WIMPEREngland have hardly impressed since going four down, and they will have to expect some serious stick when they return home after a string of performances that have seen them underperform.

82'

THEY THINK IT'S ALL OVERThe German fans are making all the noise as their boys sweep through to the quarter-finals to face the winners of Mexico v Argentina later on today. Few would be able to argue that England deserve to be there instead. With the exception of a short spell before the break here and for a while in the Slovenia game, they have been disjointed and poor to the man.

80'

GREAT SAVEEngland finally serve up something worth talking about, with Rooney sending Gerrard through, only for Neuer to pull off a top save to keep the score at 4-1.

77'

GERMANY LOOK FOR FIVEThe Germans are looking to make it 5-1 and get revenge for the last time these two teams met... back in Munich in 2001.

74'

WRITING ON THE WALLGermany are all over England now and this game looks dead and buried.

71'

ENGLAND CHANGEHeskey replaces Defoe up top for England, but they'll need a massive improvement and late drama to get back into this, which on the evidence of the game so far is unlikely to happen.

70'

GOOAAALLL!!!It's Germany who hit England on the break again. Ozil outpaces Barry and finds Muller in acres of space in the box, who makes it 4-1. England have been ripped apart all afternoon and it's little surprise that Germany have scored so easily four times.

69'

WIDE BY MULLEREngland have been rocked by this goal, and are all at sea as Germany attack again. Muller goes for another shot, but this time slices his effort wide.

67'

GOOAAALLL!!!Lampard's free-kick hits the wall and Barry gives the ball away and Germany break in numbers. Schweinsteiger picks out Muller and he powers home at the near post to make it 3-1.

65'

ROONEY SPARKLINGRooney is starting to really get a feel for things and is blocked off by Friedrich as he runs at the defence. It's a free-kick and Lampard is lining it up.

64'

ENGLAND CHANGEJoe Cole comes on for James Milner in a like-for-like switch out on the right.

63'

DEFOE DENIEDRooney slides a pass through to Defoe, but the striker is beaten by last man Friedrich. The through-ball was slightly too light, but that was very nearly a clear sight of goal for Defoe for the first time.

61'

TIMELY INTERVENTIONRooney and Barry link up to find Milner, whose shot looked to be hitting the target until Boateng got in a block. That's much better from England in the final third.

60'

SOLID GOALKEEPINGMilner is found by Rooney, and the winger whips in a cross first time, which is well claimed by Neuer.

58'

TOO EASY FOR MULLERMuller sends Terry the wrong way to create space for a shot, which takes a deflection off Cole. But the ref didn't see it and gives a goal-kick.

57'

SHARP OFF HIS LINELahm's under-hit back-pass almost puts Defoe in on goal, but Neuer is straight off his line to get to the ball fractionally ahead of the striker.

55'

TOO MUCH SPACEGermany are causing most of the problems down their right, exploiting the space in front of Cole and getting Ozil, Muller and Klose in room ahead of Lahm.

53'

REALLY SLOPPY DEFENDINGTerry needlessly gives the ball away and has to make amends, blocking Klose's cross and giving away a corner.

51'

OFF THE BAR!!!Lampard has a go from a free-kick miles out and beats Neuer all ends up, only to see the ball cannon back off the bar. There hasn't been a better set-piece strike at this tournament and Lampard has really stood up since England went behind.

50'

ENGLAND ON TOPIt has been all England since the restart as they go in search of the equaliser that they should have got before the break.

48'

SELFISH PLAYGerrard has time to cut in from the left and pick out a fellow red shirted player, but he goes for goal and slices wide.

47'

FIRST BOOKINGFriedrich hacks down Defoe and gets the first yellow card of the game. England will be hoping that his decisions go their way this half.

46'

SECOND HALFGermany get the ball rolling again in Bloemfontein and both teams are unchanged.

45'

THE DEBATE RAGES ONAll the talk at half-time is about goal-line technology and THAT decision!

45'

HALF TIMEThe whistle goes and the England fans fill the air with boos directed straight at the referee. That decision was horrendous, but it would be far from deserved if England went in level - they have been ripped apart at the back by Klose, Ozil and co.

43'

LOVELY STUFFLampard's disallowed goal has clearly riled England and they are now dominating proceedings, buzzing on the ball and firing into challenges.

41'

ATTACKS ON TOPBoth teams are creating chances at will and it's a terrific game to watch. England have surged back into it with some style and the tempo has markedly risen.

39'

NO GOAL!!!That is one almighty howler by the match officials. Defoe does brilliantly to win the ball and find Lampard, whose wonderful volley beats the keeper and bounces over the line off the bar. But the referee doesn't give it! That was a full yard over the line and England are beside themselves with rage. If anyone remembers Pedro Mendes' goal at Old Trafford a few years ago, this was not dissimilar.

38'

MORE ON THAT GOAL!Gerrard picked up from the short corner and found the centre-back, whose header beat Neuer and gets England back in the game!

37'

GOOAAALLL!!!Matthew Upson pulls one back for England!

36'

JOHNSON TO THE RESCUEKlose wriggles into space from a corner and looks set to make it 3-0, only for Johnson to pull off a dramatic sliding to tackle to deny the striker.

35'

OFF THE LINEMilner skins his man and whips in a cross that Lampard turns goal-ward. It hits the sprawling Neuer twice before Lahm hacks clear off the line.

34'

MORE ON THAT GOALThis time it's Muller who tears past England's snail-like centre-back partnership, and he finds Podoloski in space in the box. The striker shoots from an angle and finds the far corner. This is starting to look like a rout, and England must improve quickly if they're going to stop a rampant Germany.

33'

GOOAAALLL!!!Podolski makes it 2-0 and England's defence is falling apart!

32'

OFF THE BAR... BUT OFFSIDEDefoe is picked out in the box and hits the bar with a terrific header. However, the flag is up so it wouldn't have counted in any case.

31'

HUGE SAVE BY JAMESKlose evades Upson again and everyone in the Free State Stadium is expecting the net to bulge... but James spreads himself well to make a save that could be massive to the result of this game.

29'

KLOSE RUNNING THE SHOWThe front-man is pulling Upson all over the place, and England's centre-back will need to improve dramatically.

27'

GET OUT OF THE WAYEngland build down the left, by Milner is robbed of possession by the referee. The official gets an angry blast from Capello on the touchline, but he had nowhere to go.

25'

NICE FOOTBALLEngland link up well down the right, and Lampard finds Barry in space for the shot. The midfielder keeps his effort down, but Neuer clings on to the ball with both Rooney and Defoe bearing down on him.

23'

FRUSTRATION SHOWSRooney picks the ball up on the left and jinks inside a couple of defenders to set up a shooting chance from distance, only to slice his shot wildly wide. Calm down Wayne!

22'

MORE ON THAT GOALTerry and Upson will have to take the blame for that. It was a simple punt forward from the goal-kick that found Klose, with neither of the centre-backs cutting out the ball. Klose left Terry for dead and shrugged off Upson before flicking the ball past James and into the bottom corner. It's nightmare defending by England, but a terrific start for Germany.

21'

GOOAAALLL!!!Miroslav Klose latches onto a long ball and tucks it home to put Germany ahead. It's 1-0!

20'

TRYING TOO HARDRooney is so desperate to make his mark on this World Cup that he's really trying way too hard to influence the game, and really just needs to settle down and get hold of the ball.

19'

INTO THE WALLLampard blast the free-kick, but can't get past the wall and the follow-up attack breaks down.

18'

TAKE THE GAME TO THEMDefoe turns and runs at the German defence, doing well to keep the ball and link-up with Lampard. The midfield is hauled down and England have a free-kick within shooting distance.

16'

WILD SHOTKhedira runs into space outside the area, but sends his shot high and wide, much to the delight of the England fans in Bloemfontein.

14'

STRONG GOALKEEPING Lahm attempts to pick out Khedira with a cross in from the right, but James comes off his line and claims.

12'

CRUNCHING TACKLECole wins the ball from Muller with a terrific sliding challenge, but the German stays down and England are forced to put the ball out of play. That was superb by the full-back, and he's really setting the tone for his side.

11'

A TAD SELFISHGermany break in numbers and have a terrific opportunity to set up a goal-scoring chance, but it will surprise no-one to hear that Podolski opts not to find one of his many team-mates in space, and instead goes for an outrageous shot that Terry blocks. Real waste that!

9'

PLAYING ON THE SHOULDERGerrard attempts to pick out the run of Defoe in behind, but his pass is too heavy and runs through to Neuer. It's all very open in midfield so far, with both probing forward.

7'

COLE EXCELSEngland's left-back will have it work cut out this afternoon keeping Lahm and Ozil quiet, but three strong tackles in quick succession suggest that he is up for the challenge.

5'

FIRST REAL ATTEMPTOzil bursts through the defence and on to a long ball. He is pushed slightly wide by Cole, but still gets his shot away, forcing James to block with his legs at his near post. That was worryingly sloppy from an English perspective.

4'

THE FLAG IS UPThe ball diverts off of Mertesacker and sends Rooney clean through, but the flag is up for offside. England's talisman is furious, but it was the correct decision.

2'

POSSESSION GAMEIt's been all England in the opening minutes, with the Three Lions content to keep the ball and get a feel for the game.

1'

KICK-OFFEngland - kitted out in all-red once again - get the game underway.

0'

THE ANTHEMSThe two respective anthems are belted out and we're all set for kick-off. Here goes...

0'

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLEToday's referee is Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay, one of Fifa's top officials. However, be warned, he has the highest red card average of any international referee, 94 in his 140 games.

0'

HERE COME THE TEAMSThe respective flags of these two footballing giants emerge from the tunnel, followed by the 22 players who will start this humdinger of a World Cup tie. The tension is unbearable!

0'

THE VENUEThe Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein is decked out with the flag of St George as England fans outnumber the Germans. This afternoon's game is the last hurrah for this ground in the tournament, which is just as well given the state of pitch - which would give Wembley a run for its money.

0'

THE LINE-UPSEngland do name an unchanged team, the first time that Fabio Capello has done so as manager. Miroslav Klose returns in place of Cacau, while both injury doubts - Jerome Boateng and Bastian Schweinsteiger - also start.

0'

BUZZING BLOEMFONTEINThe atmosphere in and around the Free State Stadium has been building all day as the big match approaches. As always, speculation is rife about team selection, but the message seems to be that England are unchanged, while Schweingsteiger and Klose will start for Germany.

0'

EARLY GERMANY TEAM NEWSJoachim Low has some problems, with striker Cacau already out through injury, and both Bastian Schweinsteiger and Jerome Boateng doubtful. However, Miroslav Klose returns from suspension and is likely to lead the attack.

0'

EARLY ENGLAND TEAM NEWSFabio Capello has the luxury of a full 23 to choose from. Ledley King is back in training after recovering from the groin injury picked up against the USA. Jamie Carragher returns from suspension, leaving the manager with a decision to make over whether Matthew Upson should continue alongside John Terry at the back. Aaron Lennon and Michael Carrick have shaken off knocks, and the former is likely to be considered if England opt for a five-man midfield, particularly given Germany's weakness at left-back.

0'

PREVIEWThe last 16 has thrown up one of the classic fixtures of international football - England v Germany. This is a game that needs no added hype - history alone will ensure that both nations are spellbound as kick-off approaches. Germany started their World Cup campaign in style, but have hiccupped their way through the last two games and will need to find their best form to see off an England team who are finally starting to live up to their billing. Contrary to the stereotypes, both of these teams love to attack and will throw plenty of bodies forward, which should make for a classic game. Stay tuned for more build-up...